Jockey Barred in Massachusetts After Race Interference at Fair

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — One jockey was banned and six others cleared Wednesday after a state inquiry into race-fixing at the Three-County Fair.

Paul Luce, the barred jockey, was accused of interfering with fellow rider Jerry Halimi in at least one race on Sept. 8.

Cleared Wednesday were Julian Vasquez, Mark Slaven, Tommy Santos, Miguel Mercado, Jose Vargas and Abad Cabassa.

Luce competed “not to win on his mount, but instead rode to prevent Halimi from winning . . . allowing another horse to win,” said Gary Piontkowski, chairman of the Massachusetts Racing Commission.

Officials said it wasn’t clear whether Luce had participated in a profit-making scheme or had acted on a personal vendetta. “We’re continuing to investigate the betting patterns of that race. We cannot confirm that Mr. Luce had financial gain,” Piontkowski said.

Racing officials said they were acting upon a review of the race tape and testimony from Halimi.

Piontkowski said Luce was barred indefinitely from all tracks and horse races in Massachusetts. The official also said Luce’s case was being referred to the Hampshire County prosecutor.

Luce couldn’t be reached immediately. However, he denied last week that he had fixed any races.

He said Halimi had threatened to get even after accusing several jockeys of boxing him in during a race. “It’s really hard when one man can take everything away from you,” Luce said at that time.